The Sun. — London, England, 1818-10-08 00:00:00

AllVlC.Samageir • boar F(EDERA A&RICANA. [N t. Vl.] have now finished my extracts from the work of January 1807, which, as the Case then stood, •Wili be :Admitted by pions minds to have main tainvd the opinion avowed in it by arguments of no trivial weight. If the singul,a calamities of the age were penal visitations of Divine Providence, the reasons given for regarding the Slave Trade as the chiefaniong the offences by which the chastisement was 'lto yoked, were such as it s: erns difficult to resist. — It would be hardly possible at least to imagine reasons of greater force, by which in any case the In:miles! at ions of •Di vine displeasure can, wi; hoist express Revelation, he referred to any particular cause. But tweee years have since elapsed, and many most important events have intervenetk reversing in most respects the state of the civilised world. The supposed provocation has by several nations been discontinued. The calamities which were regarded as penal have in general ceased. If the - opinion, therefore, was groundless, it haS pto bably becordisetedited by events : if just, we may expect to find that it has rather been confirmed. — An inquiry, which of these has been the result, may be curious even to the sceptical ; and to those who devoutly regard the operations of Providence, can hardly fail to he deeply interesting.. Let us advert first to the case of Great Britain ; the country which, till March 1807, was the most deeply culpable, and to which the arguments were chiefly addressed. Their Author's expectation was, that if she did tint - desist from the Slave Trade, the extreme difficulties and dangers, in which she was then involved, would terminate in her final destruction ; but that if she adopted an imme diate reformation, they would terminate in safety and peace. The latter was happily her choice. In less titan three months after the publication of that work, the Slave' Trade was totally abolished by Act of Parliament. The reformation was, in a religious view, the 'more satisfactory, because it was adopted with an unanimity such as bas rarely, if ever, accompanied any measure of public im portance, both in the legislative bodies and among the British people at large. No act could bemore entirely national. Nor was its Moral and peni tential principle concealed beneath a plea of ex pediency, as its the recital of the Act of the pre ceding year, for prohibiting the Trade to Foreign Colonies; but was avowed in the law itself, by reference to Parliamentary Resolutions, which condemned the Trade as repugnant to Justice and Humanity. The measure, therefore, was in all points well calculated to appease the righteous indignation and propitiate the favour of Heaven. It was a genuine act of national contrition and re pentance, such as the world in modern, times had rarely, if ever before, 'witnessed. A mighty peo ple fell down in their collective dignity before the Throne of God, confessing, by the voice of their Legislature, the injustice and cruelty they had long been in the habit of perpetrating against the helpless, unresisting natives of, a foreign land, and solemnly binding themselves to renoance for ever . the guilty practice. It was all that they had power to do ; except that which has been since sedu lously attempted, the promoting the same refor mation in other countries ; and except the pro tection and relief, by all sate and prudent means, of those oppressed and degraded fellow-creatures who are retained in our Colonies in a cruel bond age, imposed on them or their ancestors by means of that iniquitous trade. But this - also was at the saute period sincerely intended, and attempted, both by the British Government and Legislature ; though hitherto unhappily without suciess. The reformation, therefore, of 1807 was not wilfully defective. If, after such an expiation of her offences, England had fallen a victim to the scourge with which she was chastised, the hypothesis in ques tion would have been materially shaken. If other nations which continued obdurate in regard to the Slave Trade had been spared, arid had emerged from the common calamities with feli city and glory, an opinion which ascribed their past chastisements to that offence would have lost still inure of its probability. But if the events which have actually ensued have been di rectly opposite to these . ; if Great Britain has been delivered from the most imminent dangers, and raised to Ow highest pinnacle of glory ; and if the obdurate nations have, on the contrary, been visited with more severe calamities ; still mote, if all ;he favourable circumstances which then distinguished their lot front that of England have been since strangely reversed, to their na tional degradation and loSs, but to her exaltation ; then the opinion must be admitted to stand on much broader ground than when it was first ad vanced, and to have still stronger claims on our most serious attention. - On which side the progress of events has tes tified, a few facts and dates will sheer. In the Spring of 1807, the political prospects of England lad gathered nearly their deepest blackness. The gloom of the preceding year, consequent on the battle of Austetlitz, and the prostration of the Continent which followed, had been enough to sink the spirits, and even it is thought to terminate the life of a British Minis ter of no ordinary firmness. Prussia, however, remained still unconquered and entire ; and she had in Russia one great power willing to sustain her in defensive efforts, if the insatiable ambition and perfidy of France should attempt new usur pations in the North. But this last hope of Eu rope seemed to be lost in the battle of Jena, and t-he overwhelming disasters that ensued ; and though at the period of this review, the latter end of March 1807, a faint expiring ray of hope still glimmered on the Vistula, where Russia bravely for a while suspended the fate of her confederate, it was soon obscured at Friedland, and at Tilsit to tally extinguished. Front that moment, France bad not an enemy on the Continent ; nor England an Ally. That was worse, the irresistible power of Napoleon, and the terror of his name, had engaged nearly the whole of Europe in a combination against our commerce, the success of which %rook] have been lulu to our finances and to our domestic peace.— To crown ail, the only nation on earth' a', once in a condition to despise his enmity, and to frustrate that deadly blow at our resources, scent ed rather bent on making it effectual ; demanding from us a surrender of what we deemed the neces sary means of resistance . ; and denouncing, as he alternative, a new and impoverishing war.— To these complicated dangers from without, were added internal dangers arid difficulties not less alarming : public discontents , furious party ani mosities, unprecedented burthens, and enormous tvar establishments, which, though essential to our security against invasion, could no longer be recruited and upheld by ordinary means. Ever► our wooden walls were then, though the fact is little known, in some danger - of decay 5 and our brave defenders, t i tval and militaty, with - out a hostile penant to exercise their valour - at sea, or a field of combat on shore,, were likely to become weary of a tedious war, in which no laurels could be won, and wherein their patience only, not their courage, could be tried. In a view to our paper circulation, to Ireland, and other subjects of alarm, this .enumeration might be enlarged, were it not my wi,l3 tq avoid all controverted ground. We are too apt to forget, at the expence of pru dence, as well as of gratitude to Divine Providence, the number and magnitude of the petits which we have escaped, when the danger exists no more. It may be useful to Englishmen there fore to look back with particularity on the very alarming state of their country at the epoch to which 1 refer. Bait how happily, bow gloriously, and how won derfully has thiS state been reversed ! I have already noticed the striking coinci dence, in point of time, of the actual cessation of our Slave Trade, with the unexpected light for England anrEurope that suddenly sprang up in Spain, the hostile country most completely de voted to France, and identified with her in its policy.* " Via prima salutis Graia pandetur ab urbe." .t was there, that the tide first turned against the military and revolutionary fortunes of Buona parte. It is from this point that we may date the reflux of popular feeling, which flowed hack to the North, till the democratic energies of Europe, combined with patriotic and military ardour, checked there the torrent of the Usurper's con- guests, and rose into a flood for his destruction. But what is still more obvious, the Revolution in Spain opened to .England a field. of military glory and success, which reconciled the country to per severance in the war, and led to final victory and triumph. There we exchanged a heartless defen sive war, and the terrors of invasion, fur an ani mating contest, in which the heart of the country accompanied its arms. There the modern Car thage, as Britain was contemptuously called, sent forth a lianniba'l, who found many a Trebia and Thrasymene, but neither a Capita nor a Beneven turn ; and who, after the Cannte of Waterloo, knew how to use his fortune. If military renown bad been the only fruit of this revolution in the war, the favour of Divine Providence towards England in it would still have been gfeat ; for national glory is national strength. But the crown of all was that blessing, of which at the time of our great moral reformation we had reason to despair, A. SAFE AND HONOWI - PEACE. What friend of this country amongst us was, twelve years ago, sanguine enough :o think such a consummation even possible ! What British Minister could then promise himself to regain even the terms of the last dangerous and short lived peace ; or to sheath the sword on any terms that could afford even the prospect of a brief tran quillity I '[be man who had talked of expecting that we should be able to compel France to re store Holland or Belgium, or Italy, or even to unseat the Corsican dynasty in Spain or West phalia, would have been laughed at as a dri veller, or railed at ,as en advocate for intermin able war. The hope of a c ounter-revolution, favourable to the repose of Europe, in France itself, would have been thought not less irra- tional. Who then can sufficiently admire the ways of Providence, in rewarding our penitence and re formation with such a peace as we have since hap pily attained ; a peace made, not with a perfidious Usurper, but a just and legitimate Sovereign, disposed like ourselves to respect the faith of trea ties, and the rights of independent nations ? That the treaty was obtained by a triumphant British army at the gates of the French capital, is, though not the most valuable, one of the very striking circumstances of the case ; because a " march to Paris" had been a sarcastical by-word with the enemies of the war, even - when it wore the most promising aspect for Great Britain and her Allies ; but this -supposed impossibility has been since twice performed. I would leave it un noticed it our triumph had not been gained over treason and usurpation, and tyranny ; not over the legitimate throne of France, or the willing hostility of her people. • But surely nothing can mat k more strongly bow diametrically opposite the event of the awful contest was to all llama', calculation, as well as to the boasts of our arro gant and formidable enemy. He threatened to terminate the war at the bead of his legions in LONDON ; but casting away his truncheon, as well us his ill-gotten sceptre, and yielding him self up as a prisoner, he left us to end it at I'a•- ats 1 . Such were the contrasted fortunes of the * That the dangers of the country did not thus apparently subside Or diminish immediately after we made our peace with [leaven by the Abolition Act, does not :it all impeach these views. The practical reformation was not in its effect immediate. Tin the Ist of March, IWOt3, the poor injured African exiles were importable by law into our colonies, to be placed in perpetwal slavery there, and even later in special cases; and it is believed that some of these special eases oc curred as late as the month of May. It was in that mouth that the revolutionary - movements be; Spain; and sexy early in June, Spanish Deputies arrived here to solicit the support of this country. I will not inquire Ns bet her the tune we gave for winding up a system of rapine and murder, ..sit li out loss to the merchants engaged in it, NV excucable. The Government of the day acted on the purest principles; and did all, perhaps, that could, under the circumstances, he safely accomplisited. But if the happy change ill our 'ra tional prospects was nearly coeval with the actual cessation of the crime, it is as much as the argument call be thought at all to require. Indeed, it is by nu means necessary to the belief of a providential interposition, either of punishment or mercy, that it should immediately follow the weird cause which we sum:e to trace induced it. nation that (TT and "atetyrart Who reiiored, the Shave T ra d e I. A still more impressive fact yet remains-1 mean l'untende honouratte which this grand of fender against the African race was 'Condemned by Providence to make during his restoration when repudiating his own Decree of 180'2, and his calumnies against England, as well as his matchless wickedness in St. Domingo, he pro claimed the Abolition of the Slave Trade, as his only expedient to reconcile the British people to hi, second usurpation. The gross hypocrisy ag gravated his guilt, and added, if 'possible, to the approaching justice of his fate ; but this inci dent belongs rattier to the case of France than of England. [To be continued.] POLICE INTELLIGENCE. ATTEMPT TO IMPOSE UPON A ;JOURNAL BY FALSE INTELLIGENCE. Be:bre Mr. Alderman mom', the presiding Alagiztrate, GUILDHALL.—A Mr. Hicks said, he appeared On the behalf of the Proprietors of The English man Sunday Newspaper, to 'apply for a warrant against a Mr. Thomas Acton, for a fraud com mitted by him on them on Saturday, September the 26th. He, however, saw that Gentleman pre- Sent, and, wiih the Alderman's permission, he would state the case. On the day he mentioned, the defendant bad furnished the complainants with a report of a case, as they at the time believed to have occurred at Boat-street -Police Office, headed, " A Son of Misfortune," describing the distresses of a Mr. Chanter and his .fa mily," and it appeared in The Englishman on Sunday, under the head of Police, Bow street. It was copied into all the Daily Journal's of Monday, and amongst them into The Times, and several sums of money were sent to the Proprie tors of that Paper for the supposed distressed fa mily. . On account of his (Mr. Hicks's) connexion with The Times, he was sent to investigate into the case. He was informed at the office of The Englishman, that the article was furnished to them by th , defendant, fur which he charged them 15s. Gd. He had a conversation with the de fendant, and be acknowledged that he had st fur, nished it. Ile bad made inquiry as to the truth of the statement, and was able to make oath that it was untrue from beginning to end, and that no such case had occurred at Bow-street Police afii c e . . - Mr.'Payne, Clerk to the Alderman—" The de fendatit.was not paid for it." Mr. Hicks—" No, but he delivered his bill, and afterwards called for the amount, which was re fused, on account of the fraud being discovered." Mr. Acton, in his defence, said, he felt him self in a very awkward situation. He had been for two years in the habit of giving articles'of police to different Newspapers, and this was the ,first time they had ever been complained of. That he. had been imposed on he could not doubt. On Thursday week he met a person in the Strand, who was in the habit of attending Police Offices for his amusement, and it was %veil known that many per sons did so; for instance, there were 40 persons then in the Office who had no business to transact there. He did not know the name of the person he met ; he said, " How do you do ?" and asked him if he wanted a good story, as there had just been a most distressing case at Bow -street Office: He told him he would be much obliged to him for it, and they went to the Crown public-house, in Little Russell-street, Covent-garden, where his informant related the story, and he took notes of it, anti afterwards wrote out the account which appeared first in The Englishman, and another Weekly Paper. - Ever since the discovery of its being an imposition, be had done every thing in his power to find the person who had imposed on him, without effect. • He well knew, if the pre sent case went out to the public, and he bad no doubt but it would, be should be ruined for ever. The case of Oldershaw and his distressed family he had furnished the Newspapers with ; anti it was of use to them, as it caused many persons to subscribe for their relief. When lie heard of the case complained of, he thought, by giving it publicity, it would have the same effect un the humane and generous, and that be would have the consolation of knowing that he was the humble instrument of relieving a fellow-creature. He had been imposed upon, but he was not inten tionally guilty of the fraud. His character had stood unimpeached until the present moment, hut when the statement of the proceedings of that day were published it was lost for ever, and he de prived of a livelihood, which also supported an aged person. Under these considerations, it was of little consequence to him whether he was or was not convicted of the charge against him. He would, -however, ask any man of common under standing, if lie ga(e the article to The Englishman with a guilty intention, would he have furnished another Weekly Paper with it from which he had a settled salary 1 There appeared to be a combi nation against him for the purpose of ruining him ; for another kind friend gave him a case on Saturday last, as °mining at that Office, which he gave to a Weekly Paper on Sunday, and was copied into the Daily Papers of Monday, under the head of " Police, Guildhall, Elopement Extra ordinary," which he understood was contradicted. Mr. Payne—" No such case occurred here on Saturday, as the business of this Office was dune at the Mansion-house on that day." Alderman Thorp—" It is very unfortunate, Mr. Acton, that you have not been able to find your informant." The Defendant—" It certainly is, Sir ; hut if he has any spirit of generosity in hint, on hearing what has passed this day, be will come forward," Mr. Hicks—" I believe the statement of Mr. Acton 'to be true,' although it is not supported by evidence; and if he will undertake to put into the newspapers of to-morrow, what has passed here this day, I will, in the name of the Proprietors of the PaperS I am connected with, withdraw the charge." Mr. Acton—" I can have no objection, but I cannot insure its being published in all the Pa pers." Alderman Thorp—" 1 consider it highly proper that the proceedings of Offices, situated as this is, should be published, as it tends to correct vice, by exposing it. The great misfortune'as to the case complained of is, that when a true case of [ actual distress is published, the public will hot 1 o f) beliefe it, and the rlotiira 'of inisforitine i " . " ri %%idiotic relief. I ain of opinion arca d P l i t i l i \ ' i e course has been taken to render justice to t " parties concerned." Mr. Kicks and Mr. Acton then left the Ogee to get her. EXTENSIVE ROBBERY. p pU BOW-STREET.--.-011 Tuesday afterno on' la f man of genteel appearance, of the naive °I ; - t bi Louis Marie Iclerat, calling him - self an officer ' ll 1) French service, was brotrgbt to the 0 15c , e l dni Bishop and Rutliven. The Officer c harge ° "" ei with robbing Lieut.:General Stafford Lightburfloo of Bank of England notes and HarnmersieYl of a lt b° o ; Bankers' cirentir notes, to the amount and froth whose statement, before srs, Esc. the Sitting Magistrate, it oppeareoo a short time - since, the General left Einglant!'.Whea an intention of proceeding to Greece, a" ►r►tlh to he left he was .possessed Of 6001. to travel Bank of England notes, and Haminersleyerc"n"tie far notes, which are knotvn all over th e ; ` l) , : ,osi cent, and which are payable at every town where there is a Banker, anuannting eu 'O, and while he was out, he only chittigea'°"oe,,,Dc note, which was at Lafayette's“hellaoher, 1 " s „', 0 , 1 and sob') after that the General 1-eceived munication front England - ; respecting s dnie td l'et" o , important business, Which obliged him home , instead of proceeding on his joti r t e . / 404 Greece. On his arrival at Calais, b e, on/P. 901 on board the Desiree French packet-boat, i° ver ; and soon after he got on board the boat, was the last time he saw his pocket-)A which contained the above notes; • . 1e 1 , 1 0 0 taken his pocket-book out , in order .to s t , et : a Police Officer his passport. He rcc%ei ell the prisoner, and noticed h is cone teO l o i being very dark , and he considered hint tt , of a native of South America. He and the r, s ,,,ei the passengers wet e landed on the beach at Yt;ot on the night of the I.4ill'Of September las t ' °' ipso nine o'clock, when he found the prisoner 004, to his person, who asked the prosecutor t° him to carry a map of Lisle in his hand, to he was taking to the Custoni-house to Pl g otel duty for. The prosecutor declined his aisi s— c oo and at the same instant put his baud to 0 4 0 , 0 k; pocket, and missed his pocket-book ; ' 1 : 1 ; 1 „ i e he felt any thing at his pocket to cause 0-- by Put his band to it or not, or whether it W 6 , 5 , 01 01 chance, he could not tell: He instantly COfroi. Iticated the discovery to the Custom-hoo6e„' prh who was attending him. He recollt etd soner then disappeared; hut he hail no sli s P .i befF of his being the robber. The pritise en°r 1) 0' made all r possible exertion in h a iling ti r e bo a which lauded him, but it being prr "44 hue 1 ' 1 '; considerable difficulty in making the PT ) derstand him, as they had put o ff to ont b"a `se—b„ereitt-,' of the beach.; the boat was at lene foam but no trace of the pocket-book could be, 0 00 0 Information of the robbery ,aas . given office, and Bishop and R ot h ve „ have be 0-1 themselves since to discover the robbe r . si t e property. Two of the stolen 501, ii° ll In e l se" ile sll‘ the 201. circular notes, have been od e payment at Hammersleys' Bank, Pi 111.11 1! stopped, but the parties presenting theicil trivet' to make their escape. Ott Toered,, ~tr ; titer of the 201. circular notes was Pr i9 g cj' elt then, by a man whom Bishop and Rotik% P oo e to a house in Beaumont-street, Mat y-lc—ttleo-tbd turned out he was merely employed to itil‘ e - bat 1 ;, - 1 to Hauimersleys' Bank to get change;3 coe',i officers, by exertion and perseverance, 5:010r* in discovering the prisoner with the Pr ° ' et tY , pocket-book on him, and the stolen the amount of 3901, which, togetber,°:, s which had been stopped pa)ment, leo"iiveia little deficiency of whit Orig i"". .; Ole Prf, pocket-book. The officers, on searclitnv sorter, found pawnbrokers' duplicate "" t be P g , a seal and a ring, which are snpo° sil i ," u t IC I . II property Of young man, of the ni' 3111 ' 0 () , I tl man, with whom the prisoner travelleilo;ijoerwo whom he afterwards pot up at Li 54a s briA r , i l Hotel, Leicester-square, where his box ► foie open and robbed. A passpott was ' 4ls l - 1 , W it upon hint, which he bad obtained fl u m r dir e o yds d'Osmond, the French Ainbass"/ ► ' totp, days after his arrival in London, Whi` have enabled him to leave at a ny t' llle ;. e 0 1 0 might have p a ssed t h e no tes ally be.oott,o, , C le o s i c a r i i t i t i e es n t h t i v a i l t s f e l ( l l f t atsli naval j o the P i % nf Brest. He said his tamilyailieetri':rin°i:teesl)'llllll'l.'' Ehe prisoner was committed for fu rtjg ,ation. table l b o le rn b t a e t e i i tin UNION-MALL.—Rex v. Cowcii.----.--/25 seC,o4' EXCISE INFOILMATIOS.,rh. 0 , 0 9 , in t' t a i d l e a r rg 4 e 2 w G a e y o 0 . f lI b l i: i : l o c i' s : 3 : tt , a ' : :: : l e. : against Mr. Jobm Cowell, a brewer "cealbc-ej., ilai v iinii e leil ; ototi l iri , tuilm:e ; t t abi3 ) nt l yo . leioat o :).:vi t :ii t h t : i iseil t : t roal i iso n li g il)l.4le.e t i doshc,arntiltbaieti.,k(el incurred e, c idi a ) s er k ec, : ti joe a ble e t ; ril tbi, obi P. f eici se 't o. leered to the al c il l i a ll us l e 'ay o n f e, the ti A PeCrtVitSi°Orde°r4licoiCtlilitilli. brewer to mark his carsel:sinoirfillabeiv:lbietielirbsciailiji°::l6(' capital Roman letter T, of 'the Iligevery c;06; inches, under the penalty o f 506. I°l. Aff.tsi' on which such mark shall not be Pu i t : ,,' , 5 in , - Or'i added, that from the numerous de3"ric 0 10 d eo, 'less which had existed between Itiolse l o t hi1 . . 0 11 0, Cowell, he was able to bear testintoltioosiio;: net al attention to the taus and regtl,l.o t he ° lic e, Excise. He had reason to belie" 11:11,110%:,e tbd; Sion complained of proceeded fron)i,),fi.oudin; Itif r r a a e: t ( ' l‘ l i e l l e i t t r r o t . i etiche. Cowell leave e f s lt r ih o t i t el l : , e i t ae itilt:ig'o'eeYittliiitig' t o ui c t s ifl.litii ii::(ce"itilloa,l)%ltt'cyoil:el'f s it ; l9:r!t i el : duty to bring the subject b e fore I to poi . Ite ' ittl ic Co", - 1 egg , to their discretion. th e chafe o 00 e to' tamed in the information. feW lil t lI, Ie f, The Magistrates consulled itir P the-_, r 0 o_ and was iitiocworli'ssletcloinlettllcice I:tirttisollfillittiielilit:c: Sii/11:51:1:1;4111;1" fl Excise to p p l e •e n s , s lit f y or the 10 11 r el)li t il leta l° : t y to a determination to fine the l u ti e Co sts. ' ,7 ,' zli , o f 12/. 10 6 .> , _ , ~...e. - -;0 : 071 6 • 4 f , ' A, ' -- - - fr i a 4„ ~ l , , `. I et; 'I , 0/' LONDON: Printed I, '3.11. C,ItIS'IA o ils', t iorig th."")ild-",et, Queen-sein:tre; an' l creet' 4 0 0, SCRIPPS, of No. 7 , South IN;o11011:';-,-0,ae (Mice, No. 11-2, Strand ; where Ad' '(1. / • Letters) ece. Oust -paid) must ilt% atidr '~~ . 1 1t1 ' A 4:1 1 , 14-,„' .~ Tt) ~ l ` ,C ~d ~~~1 4, 11 t